company

Profile

GRECIAN MAGNESITE is a privately owned company established in 1959 as a mining and industrial concern. However the magnesite mining expertise of the owners (Portolos family) goes back to 1914, when J.G. Lambrinides the “eminence grise” of Greek magnesite and a pioneer mining engineer, started the development and exploitation of most of the magnesite activities in Greece.

GRECIAN MAGNESITE is a magnesite specialist. The company produces and commercializes Caustic Calcined Magnesia, Deadburned (Sintered) Magnesia, Magnesium Carbonate (Raw Magnesite) and Basic Monolithic Refractories. A wide range of grades is currently produced, addressing practically all applications where magnesite is used.

GRECIAN MAGNESITE ranks among the top magnesia producers and exporters in the world, with a staff of around 340 people (plus 30 permanent subcontractors) and a turnover of some 45 million Euros (consolidated turnover in the range of 70 million Euros). In caustic magnesia in particular, our company is a leading world-wide producer both in volumes and spectrum of applications served.

The company’s major deposits and production facilities are located in Chalkidiki, northern Greece. The "Chalkidiki" deposits consist of three main active concessions: Yerakini 7km2, Ormilia 10 km2 and Kastri 23 km2 . The company also owns "reserve" concessions totaling 16 km2 for future exploitation. Our magnesite is famous for its whiteness due to the low iron content (as low as 0,02% Fe in the calcined/final product) and the low levels of heavy metals and trace elements. Moreover, low lime content and microcrystalline structure are its additional advantages.

Mining of magnesite ore is carried out open cast. The facilities employed, which constitute a unique and original production process, have been designed, built and further developed by the company itself to suit the type of deposits at its disposal and thereafter, to fully meet marketing needs. Of course this development did not come overnight but has been the result of years of continuous effort.

The company’s capacity is close to 200,000 tons of calcined products and 50,000 tons of Basic Monolithic Refractories. Assets also include a modern R&D facility near Thessaloniki, deposits in the island of Euboea and the headquarters in Athens. Grecian Magnesite holds the GMP+ and ISO 9001: 2008 Quality Certificates.

GRECIAN MAGNESITE has a commercial presence all over the world. The company’s sales value to the European continent represents 75% of its turnover while another 8% corresponds to the Americas and the rest 17% covers Asia, Oceania and Africa.

GM’s ongoing strategy is to implement significant investments projects both externally (internationalizing the company, beyond its traditional export activities) and internally. Besides GM’s participation in the production and distribution of magnesia products outside Greece i.e. Spain, Turkey and The Netherlands (see International Presence for details), the company continuously implements large investment programs in the Chalkidiki mines, aiming at reducing costs, improving quality, increasing production capacity, extending the lifespan of the mine, implementing green energy efficiency programs and allow further environmental protection.

GRECIAN MAGNESITE’s experienced and committed personnel has played a key role in the company’s success. Management and staff take pride in their work and in the company’s excellent reputation at home and abroad.

GRECIAN MAGNESITE attributes particular importance to the natural environment and carries out extensive restoration work in accordance with the most advanced international industry practices.

Today we are proud to say that GRECIAN MAGNESITE is a modern and successful company possessing a substantial know how in mining, processing and marketing of industrial minerals.